Traveling Around London and Beyond

London is now the number one place to see football

London is rapidly becoming the best footballing city in England, after Liverpool and Manchester both wore the crown for so many years. It is home to some clubs that are now recognised as European giants, namely Arsenal and Chelsea, but also a few lesser-known teams have climbed to new heights and are making waves. Now is the perfect time for any football fan to go to the capital and watch these star studded teams play in their impressive stadiums.

Tottenham Hotspur are quickly making a name for themselves and are putting up a challenge to the ruling hierarchy in the city. Under the management of the brilliant Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs were serious contenders for the Premier League title last season and they have a great chance yet again. In fact, as of early July, Tottenham go into the new season with odds of 7/1 in the football betting to win the league this time out.

Spurs currently play their home games at White Hart Lane, but building is underway for a new, grand stadium, currently titled the Northumberland Development Project. The stadium is set to be used from 2018, and will have a capacity of 61,000. This is a major statement of intent by the club, as they look to emulate their North London rivals, Arsenal, who made the switch from Highbury to the Emirates stadium in 2006.

West Ham have also relocated, to the Olympic stadium, after playing their home games at the Boleyn Ground for more than 110 years. They too, are on the up under an ambitious and tactically astute manager. Slaven Bilic led the Irons to a seventh-place finish and, if he can keep hold of key players during the transfer window, will believe he can improve on that in the next campaign.

A visit to see West Ham play at their new stadium in its debut season will be high up on many a football fan’s list. Not only is the stadium one of the most beautiful and ostentatious in the league, there is also some on-pitch delight to behold. Their star player of last season, Dimitri Payet, is one of the finest playmakers in England right now, and is a joy to watch.

Crystal Palace are another of the London clubs that appear to be on the rise. After achieving promotion three seasons ago, they have cemented themselves as a Premier League regular.

Under the stewardship of Alan Pardew, they are beginning to have the makings of a well-drilled team. This summer the club have already been busy in the transfer window, signing Andros Townsend from Newcastle United. They have also shown interest in Christian Benteke, a striker that failed to make his mark at Liverpool but a player whose style should suit that of Crystal Palace. Palace play their home games at Selhurst Park and although it is one of the smaller stadiums in the league with a capacity of 26,309, the atmosphere there on match days is second to none.

These teams are just three of the reasons why London is now the number one place to see sport, and now is a great time to go to see them.

About The London Traveler

A Kiwi girl living in London and loving it. Most of the blogs I found of expats living in London focused on travel to other countries so I wanted to make a blog about London and cool places you can go to. London is one of the best cities in the world to live and to visit.